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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-11-28 Daily Xml
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Adjournment Debate

Valedictories

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (17:35): I move:

That the council at its rising do adjourn until Tuesday 4 February 2025.

In moving that motion, I might say a couple of words and reflect on the year as we come to the close of the sitting year 2024, and take a moment to look back on the significant work that has occurred in this chamber of the South Australian parliament.

It has been a year of progress where we have debated, collaborated, and taken a lot of steps to move some pretty significant legislation in this chamber. Over the course of the third year of this term of parliament, we have passed—as at the passing of the bill just moments ago—64 individual pieces of government legislation in this chamber, a Beatles song, in fact, with the total time in this place being some 211 hours and 33 minutes of debate. I am not sure how that works; it is almost some sort of freaky quantum mathematics because I am certain the Hon. Frank Pangallo has spoken for more than 1,000 hours and yet the total is only some 200 hours. It is one of those weird ways maths works when light gets bent and gravity takes it, or something.

When you consider it, 64 bills and 211 hours, every approximately 3½ hours of sitting in this chamber we have passed a piece of legislation and I think that that reflects an effective and efficient way of passing legislation but also the legislation is often scrutinised quite heavily by this chamber. We have seen this chamber at its best a number of times this year in making sure there are not any unintended consequences and that legislation is amended to make it the best it possibly can be.

We will of course have differences of opinion, particularly when legislation—as it often necessarily is particularly at this time of the year—builds up and is sought to be passed. I do acknowledge the significant pressure that puts on the opposition. Having been for the last term the Leader of the Opposition in this place, it is a difficult task when there is a lot of legislation that comes before the chamber for all members of the opposition, but even more so for members of the crossbench, the members of the crossbench that are number two in a party and have to distribute all the work between them but even more so the members of the crossbench where they are the only ones of their party or their group being represented.

It is a difficult task when you consider how much legislation we have passed and particularly how much legislation we have passed this week but also in recent weeks. A lot of the work we have done this year has seen meaningful changes to improve the lives of South Australians. We certainly had a focus on community safety, exemplified by just one week in September where we passed bills on indefinite detention for serious repeat child sex offenders, cracking down on adults who recruit children to commit crimes, codifying the common law of forfeiture so that individuals cannot benefit from crimes, strengthening bail laws for terrorist suspects, stronger protections for people who suffer identity theft, fixing issues in terms of spent conviction laws, and to modernise regulation of explosives in South Australia. As I said, that was just one week in September of this year.

As I said, we have been listening to members of the community. We have been meeting, in a lot of cases, community expectations in terms of what we do here, in terms of the results and in terms of the process. We have seen key reforms in areas in terms of industrial relations aiming to improve the transparency of SafeWork, ensuring that victims and their families are no longer kept in the dark, and we have legislated reforms in areas such as industrial manslaughter and to empower our independent industrial tribunal to better resolve health and safety disputes at work.

Additionally, we have made significant changes for people in the community services sector, with the introduction of portable long service leave for the overwhelmingly female workforce in that area to make sure, where many have difficulty, they can port their long service leave to get the benefit many in the community expect.

Speaking of long service, it was a another good year for the Hon. Ian Hunter and the Hon. Russell Wortley, who have given extremely long service to this chamber already. Speaking of historic things in this parliament, it was a pleasure to see earlier this year the portrait of Aunty Gladys Elphick unveiled and adorning the walls of this parliament. It is the second portrait of an Aboriginal person to hang on the walls of this parliament and the first portrait of an Aboriginal woman to hang on the walls of this parliament. When you go on the ground floor side near the Premier's office, just yesterday walking through the parliament with a lot of Aboriginal people back and forth after the Voice had their contribution here, it makes a difference. People can be what they can see. When you have Aunty Glad and Sir Douglas Nicholls sitting side by side prominently in parliament, it makes a difference.

History was made yesterday when we had our First Nations address our parliament, the first time something like that has happened in any parliament anywhere in Australia. There were big, good reforms in this state during the course of this year, but it is not possible without everyone who makes this place tick over.

I would like to thank you, Mr President, for your patience, your remarkable skill, your chastising those who step out of line very occasionally, particularly the Hon. Heidi Girolamo, who is doing it again right now—she has been doing it all night, ref! Mr President, your leadership and your exemplary behaviour is something to behold, although very recently I think the phrase that I used to hear as a kid sometimes, 'Do as I say and not as I do,' comes to mind, but enough about that.

I would like to thank the whips, the Hon. Ian Hunter and the Hon. Laura Henderson, who keep the majority of this chamber who come from the two major parties in control most of the time. I know many members of the respective parties will be dreading seeing the number come up on their mobile phone during sitting hours from either the Government Whip or Opposition Whip pulling us all into line.

Thank you to the Hon. Nicola Centofanti, the Leader of the Opposition. It is a remarkable way we operate in this chamber. People would either be very pleased or horribly appalled to know that the Hon. Nicola Centofanti and I talk regularly just to make sure that anything that may arise we sort out often before they become issues. I am grateful, and I think it helps with the working of this chamber.

To the members of the crossbench, who, as I have talked about before, bear a workload that the rest of us, the majority of us from the major parties, fortunately do not suffer. Thank you for the generally good spirited way that you conduct yourselves in this chamber and for your occasional telling offs. If you add up the telling offs people got in this chamber from the Hon. Connie Bonaros this year alone, it would amount to several dozen, so thank you for keeping us in line, particularly from the crossbench.

Thank you to the Clerk and the Usher of the Black Rod, Chris and Guy, and your mighty sword that you have in front of you every day. I thank the other support staff in the Legislative Council: Kate, Leslie, Emma, Anthony, Super Mario, Charles, Karen and Todd. Thank you to all the committee staff, to Andrew and the Hansard team, to John and the library staff, to the finance staff and the building services, including the building attendants, PNSG IT, People and Culture staff, Centre Hall staff, police security and the cleaning staff—everyone who helps us do what we do on a daily basis.

I would like to thank the staff in the Blue Room and catering, who provide us the sustenance to keep us going, even though I am never allowed to have white bread on a sandwich when I go in and I am not allowed doughnuts when I go to the Blue Room, but besides that I thank them for everything that they do for us.

I particularly want to thank, on a personal note, staff from the Attorney-General's Department, particularly Leanne, Darcy, Nikki, Scarlett, Daniel, Ali, Maddy, Naveena and Nina and the extensive work of the legislative services team who, amongst a very, very small group, have helped development, very late into the night very often and staying very late in the night here to provide answers when members ask questions about legislation we have passed this year. I also thank my own staff: Patrick, Roland, Angas, Meredith, Elliette, Jenny, Riley, Amelia and Craigy-na for their support and what they do during the year.

I would also like to take some time to acknowledge the significant reforms we have seen this year to the Hon. Russell Wortley's phone etiquette. It is now not every single day that his phone goes off during question time. I would also like to—

The Hon. R.P. Wortley: It's normally Ben Hood that rings me.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I'm getting there. I would also like to acknowledge the members of this chamber who take great delight in calling the Hon. Russell Wortley during question time just to see if he has worked out how to turn his phone off yet—and the answer is generally no.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who entrusts us to be here in this place: the voters and electors of South Australia who we serve every day of the year. It is a great privilege to be here. I look forward to another productive year next year, and as we adjourn I would like to wish everyone happy holidays, and may your new year be full of sausage rolls.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (17:46): It gives me great pleasure to once again rise on behalf of the opposition to say a few words, to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a safe new year. And what a year it has been. We have had by-elections, we have had union shenanigans, we have had legislative reform, disease outbreaks, droughts, frosts—you name it, we have had it.

Those of us in this chamber know that the upper house is a little bit like the quality control department of the legislative process, where bills go for a second opinion, a bit of a tune-up and sometimes a complete overhaul. Whilst the lower house might be eager to race through debates and pass laws, the upper house is where things slow down and properly get scrutinised. It is a place where the finer details are debated and where some of the best arguments I think can be found, often with a side of humour and the occasional sarcastic remark.

Some of our colleagues in the other place may lament that the upper house is the place where legislation goes to be heavily scrutinised, and sometimes listening to the Hon. Frank Pangallo in the wee hours of the morning I tend to agree, but without it we would have a lot more rushed laws that potentially need some serious fixing down the track.

So while we might not always agree, let's be honest: it is this chamber, the upper house, that keeps things in check, making sure that the legislation we pass is as good as it can be or at least less likely to make us look like we have missed something important. That is something we should all be very proud of in this place.

I want to firstly and most importantly take the opportunity to thank the wonderful staff of Parliament House: our messengers, Karen, Charles and Mario, who have likely carried more messages than any ancient Roman courier; our tireless administrator, Todd; Kate in the Clerk's office, who somehow makes sure the paperwork does not eat us all alive; the brilliant table staff, Emma, Anthony and Leslie; and the committee secretaries, who I think absolutely deserve medals for juggling work across both the upper and lower houses without turning into circus performers. So a massive thank you to all those who keep things ticking along smoothly.

To Creon and the catering team, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to keep me supplied with Golden North ice cream—honey with a touch of caramel sauce, of course. Thank you for all you do to keep us fed and hydrated in this place with such style. The Riverland CrossFit gym also thanks you for ensuring I pay my monthly membership.

A big thanks to Andrew Cole and the Hansard staff for their eagle-eyed diligence in capturing every word and to John and his team at the Parliament Research Library. I will say this: John's team is an absolute delight to work with. They are like Wikipedia but with degrees, the occasional PhD and smiles.

I also want to acknowledge the behind-the-scenes superheroes: finance, building services, including the attendants; the switchboard operators; the cleaners; the People and Culture crew; and the newly formed PNSG group. Your hard work has been the backbone of our operations this year. Special mention to the parliament security team as well, especially during those chilly winter evenings. It is nice to know that someone has our backs as we leave the building.

To the Black Rod and the Clerk: your unwavering support and guidance are very much appreciated. You make yourselves available like reliable GPS systems, always pointing us in the right direction when we need it the most.

As the festive season looms, I would like to take a moment to recognise the long hours and the sacrifices made by everyone in this building. Many of you have spent time away from your loved ones and the amount of unseen work is truly remarkable. You always stay much, much later than we do in this chamber. I cannot imagine what the chamber would be like without all of your efforts; I am pretty sure it would involve a lot of confused MPs and possibly some misplaced bills.

To the government and the crossbench, while I know we have all had our fair share of sleepless nights, heated debates and the occasional back and forth on issues, it is a testament to this chamber that we keep working towards the greater good of the people of South Australia. It is not always easy but it is never ever boring.

A special thanks to the whips, the Hon. Laura Henderson and the Hon. Ian Hunter. As I said last year, and I will say it again this year, herding cats, feral cats at times, might be easier than managing this place, but somehow you both make it look fairly effortless, so we are truly grateful. Wait for it.

To the Leader of the Government: zip, zero, zilch. This is how much I know about the Attorney-General's portfolio and having had to step into this role in the absence of my fellow colleague the Hon. Michelle Lensink—and our thoughts are with her and her family during this time—I do not know how you both do it. I have appreciated your patience with me, leader, during this period. It has been a whirlwind experience. I have learnt more in the past few weeks than I thought possible, especially when it comes to deciphering the intricacies of the legal system—something that definitely makes my head spin faster than a courtroom drama. I know about these because I have been a bit of an avid watcher of Suits,featuring the Hon. Frank Pangallo's favourite royal Meghan Markle.

So from ensuring justice is served to navigating the complexities of legal reform, I have gained a new-found appreciation for the weight of this role. However, between you and I, Mr President, I would take electronic identification of sheep over ASIC v Rich any day. But in all seriousness, I would like to acknowledge the work of the Leader of the Government in all his roles. While we do not always see eye to eye, I certainly appreciate his leadership and do enjoy our banter across the chamber. Perhaps one day we will be collectively kicked out—we can but only hope—and I can teach you about the intricacies of high-frequency eID tag technology—fascinating, absolutely fascinating—and also how to tell the difference between a 'leve' and a 'levee'.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: Don't verbalise me.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: Touché. Well done, it is not every day you can manage a group of passionate individuals without losing your sense of humour and for that, my Christmas gift to you is something I know you will be pleased with—Clinkers.

Of course, to my Liberal Party colleagues: the Hon. Jing Lee, the Hon. Heidi Girolamo, the Hon. Ben Hood, the Hon. Dennis Hood and the Hon. Laura Henderson, thank you for your dedication, your energy and your unwavering commitment. You make this job a whole lot more enjoyable and your hard work does not go unnoticed. A massive thanks also goes to our incredible staff who keep everything running smoothly, from managing diaries to responding to correspondence, doing research and communicating with industry. Their work is the glue that holds us all together and I am incredibly proud of all the Liberal staffers on level two.

I do want to self-indulge for a moment, Mr President. I want to acknowledge the staff from my office, in particular, Julie Quimby for the amazing, incredible work she does to keep me on track, and I can tell you at times it is not easy. Her energy is contagious and she has been an inspiration and a huge support to me all year long, as has all of my team in the Centofanti office. I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

And let's not forget the staff from across the aisle. Your collaboration and communication make this place run a little bit more smoothly, and for that we are all grateful. Finally, Mr President, thank you for your leadership in presiding over this chamber. You certainly have your work cut out for you with our occasionally spirited debates, but you do handle it with patience—well, almost always with patience. Last night clearly got the better of you, but mostly you handle it with patience, and we all appreciate it.

Speaking of patience, you will be pleased to know I am not about to break out in song, although I do enjoy a Christmas carol or two. Nor have I brought my harmonica, but I did want to update the chamber that since the Leader of the Government's announcement last year, Minister Scriven's and my Christmas duet, 'I'll Abalonely Christmas Without You', topped the charts. Unfortunately, the rest of the album was a flop, and I am sure we can all agree why, but such was the success of that single that the minister has begged me to join her for a full album, which goes on sale today, entitled 'Rudolph the eID-tagged Reindeer'.

This album is a little bit different because it features a number of our colleagues. For instance, you will see us partner with the Hon. Robert Simms with a song I am sure will be a hit, entitled 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town via Regional Passenger Rail'. The Hon. Frank Pangallo got a leg up from the member for Hammond with his tune 'I'll Pee Home for Christmas', and the Hon. Connie Bonaros was keen to do a Christmas rendition of the B-52's classic Rock Lobster. The Hon. Russell Wortley was keen for a song, but unfortunately his phone kept ringing throughout the recording, so he got the cut.

As we head into the festive season, I am mindful that not all South Australians experience the joy and celebration that many of us take for granted, especially many of those in the farming communities right across our state given the current circumstances. This year my thoughts are with all of those facing hardship. The holiday season can be a tough time for some, but we are fortunate to have organisations like Foodbank SA, the Smith Family and the Salvation Army, who provide essential support all year round.

The holiday season can also be extremely tough for those who have recently lost loved ones, and I do want to acknowledge the Hon. Tung Ngo, who recently had heartbreak in losing his beautiful daughter, Renee. I know I speak for everyone in this place when I say we will be thinking of you and your family, particularly this Christmas, Tung, and we are all here for you.

For my family, this Christmas will once again be spent enjoying my home region of the Riverland. As much as I love being here with everyone in this chamber, I will be cherishing every moment I can over these holidays being with my husband and my three children. As we wrap up the parliamentary year, I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all who contribute their time, expertise and service in this institution. We are a part of something greater than ourselves, and your support is absolutely truly appreciated. With that, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a safe and joyful new year.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:57): I want to rise very briefly on behalf of the Greens to also wish everybody here a happy and safe and healthy Christmas. For the Greens in this place, it has been a significant year. It is also one of significant change for our party. I want to acknowledge the news from my colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks from a few months ago that she would not be standing for re-election, a significant change for the SA Greens because Tammy has been a huge contributor and a real trailblazer in South Australian politics. There will be a lot of time between now and the next election to acknowledge Tammy's work, and I know we are going to continue to work together for the next year and a bit, but I just wanted to acknowledge Tammy's significant service.

It is also a time of change within the Greens' offices. I want to acknowledge my longtime office manager Lisa Adams, who will be finishing up next week. Lisa came and joined me when I was first elected to the Senate, and when I joined the state parliament she came and joined me here and set up my new office. She will be leaving at the end of next week to start a new role in the community sector, and I really want to thank her for her years of service, and also to thank the other members of my team—Melanie, Sean and Michael—and all of the staff in Tammy's office for the huge amount of work they have done as well.

I want to thank all the people who work here in the building for their amazing work, and to thank all of my colleagues here in this place. Might I say, I think one of the great things about democracy in our state is that we can have differences of opinion, but we are able to come together and work together and treat each other in a collegial way and with respect, and may that continue.

I do also, on behalf of the Greens, want to recognise that this is a challenging time for many in our community, and I know that overseas at the moment there are significant global conflicts. I am sure all of us hope for peace in the new year and for an end to those hostilities in many parts of the world. Our thoughts are also, of course, with those South Australians who are doing it tough at the moment, in particular those who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. May the new year bring happier times for all South Australians.

The Hon. C. BONAROS (18:00): I was just going to get up to say merry Christmas because of my son's school disco, but I have missed the deadline, so I will thank everybody in this building who keeps the wheels of this place turning. I thank my amazing staff: my wingwoman Jody, and Emily, Luke and Alex—and everyone else's staff who I rope in to help us get our work done, including Angas—bless your cotton socks; I do not know what any of us would do without you.

I also want to thank an extraordinary group of people outside of this place who, through nothing but passion for the work that we do, give up so much of their time to help us do our work. It comes from across so many different sectors and they are just dedicated South Australians who want to see a better place for all of us. They give up their time freely and willingly each and every day, or at least every time I get on the phone and beg for their assistance, to make our lives a little bit easier with the workload that we have in here. I am eternally grateful to all of them.

Aside from that, I want to thank everybody in here and to echo the sentiments that have been expressed across the board—to you, Tung, as well. Michelle, we love you, and we wish you a safe and merry Christmas. I echo the sentiments just expressed by the Hon. Rob Simms. It is a difficult time out there in so many different ways and for so many different reasons, not just here but across the globe. While we are very privileged to be in here, I think it would be remiss of us not to acknowledge how many people are doing it tough.

So with those words, and to you, Mr President, and everybody in here—and all the amazing people in here who each and every day make our lives possible, and parliamentary counsel who are not in here but we all love—merry Christmas, happy new year, happy holidays, go well, stay safe and love your families.

The PRESIDENT (18:02): I would just like to add a few remarks to this motion. To the staff who work in this place, especially in the chamber but throughout the building, I really appreciate the words of the Leader of the Government, the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Mr Simms and the Hon. Ms Bonaros. I am not going to repeat everybody, but I really do appreciate everything that everybody does.

To you all, thanks for your cooperation, most of the time, throughout the year. This is a great democracy. We do not agree, but almost all the time we manage to keep the debates pretty respectful. At the end of the day, you are all very good humans and sometimes we have to remember that when we are getting stuck in. I feel like a bit of a dad sometimes just trying to keep the love in this place.

The Hon. C. Bonaros: Last night?

The PRESIDENT: We all get tired and emotional at times. I just implore you all to manage yourselves over the next period of time as we get through Christmas. When I say manage yourselves, look after your health, look after your mental health, come back refreshed, do not be a hero. Just try to make sure you spend as much time as you possibly can with family and friends, and then come back and do the outstanding job that you all do next year. With that, I wish you all a very merry, happy and peaceful Christmas period, and I look forward to seeing you all next year.

Motion carried.


At 18:05 the council adjourned until Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 14:15.


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